Philly fingers start to point at Asomugha

As the Eagles try to process their failure to win the kind of game that coach Andy Reid always seems to win, there will be plenty of blame to go around.

One guy who will no longer be escaping the accusations is cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha.

The crown jewel of the 2011 free-agent class, Asomugha surprisingly picked the Eagles over the Jets. At the time, it was viewed that Asomugha was on the same plane as Darrelle Revis. Since then, Asomugha’s play, and in turn his perception, has fallen off sharply.

Last year, excuses were made based on the way the Eagles were using him and the other two premier corners, Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie and Asante Samuel. This year, more and more folks are pointing to the belief that Asomugha, who turned 31 this year, no longer is the guy that he used to be.

There’s also a theory making its way through league circles (and the locker room) that Asomugha doesn’t care about the game like he used to. Regardless of how he feels about football, he no longer plays like he used to. And at a time when quarterback Mike Vick has become the pin cushion for criticism whenever things go wrong, look for more of the blame to be directed to other key players who aren’t playing to the level that most presumed they would.

Said this a month ago. He can’t keep up with most routes, holds a ton of times (and gets away with most) and doesn’t seen to have his head in the game. Plenty of top tier CBs out there that are better or at least cheaper.

The Eagles have a weak secondary all around. Nate Allen is soft and injury prone, Coleman is too small and slow, Nnamdi doesnt care and his contract hurts the team, and DRC is a good corner but noones scared to throw his way.. Asante wasn’t the answer either, and the blame should mostly go to the Front Office who put these guys together.

While there’s no denying that Vick is also part of the problem (when you spend your 2 off weeks simplifying your offense and go ultraconservative just so your $100 mill QB doesn’t set a new league record for turnovers he is part of the problem), there’s no denying that there were several shots of Aso getting burned by WRs. Chasing Jones from way behind and not gaining on him for a wide open TD comes to mind.

This is the type of guy who will live off his NFL earnings the rest of his life and perhaps even make more money outside of football. Problem for eagle fans is he may be ready to chase his dreams outside the game now that he has his big contact. Good for Asomuagua (sp) but bad for the eagles.

The era of the high-priced shutdown corner was over 2-4 years ago. Good offenses go 3 and 4 wide on top of pass catching tight ends. It’s better to have a solid group of corners and safeties than one “shutdown” guy eating up all the money.

Keep in mind, teams were still moving the ball at will against the Jets well before Revis got hurt.

He is a good player in the right scheme. Didn’t he play on one side (only) of the field in Oakland? Sure, he is getting older but I doubt he lacks the “fire” he used to have. Put him on the same side he is used to playing because that worked very well.

Ain’t too many guys who can catch Julio Jones in a foot race. Matt Ryan carved the Iggles up in that first half. One great stat from that game? Ryan had completed passes to seven different receivers before Vick completed his first pass. When a QB is that hot, it’s damn near impossible to stop him.

Stop pointing fingers at others, clearly vic is the problem on this once proud franchise.
Dont be surprised at his win/loss fall off, he was paid. History tells us what he does after being paid.
Your team bought into his bs, now he brings you down!

Havent we been here before? I seem to remember a lot of finger pointing at Terrell Owens (deservedly so mind you). Then there was finger pointing at Donovan McNabb. Apparently nothing has changed despite all the finger pointing. Same Eagles

If he had picked the Jets when signing last offseason he would have been part of the best secondary in NFL history and played under a great defensive mind in Rex Ryan. Instead the fool gooes to slapdick central philly and plays for an offensive line coach and wastes years of his prime.

Nnamdi is not that bad he gets more targets here yes but there is no way he should have covered Jones… And his4.3 forty time DRC should have had him all game! Now Nnamdi has gotten beat yes but he’s been fine if u watch close enough the D Line right now is to blame…… And Vick then Reid the Eagles have talent but Reid is too predictable people need to get a clue corners get beat ill admit he’s struggled at times but he’s also had some good games that he got “Burnt” in but really weren’t his fault !!!! When its cover 2 deep is the safety’s responsibility and Coleman and Allen have let us down a lot!!! Anyway right now the weakness is lack of pressure from our D Line….. Qbs have 5 mins back there at times lol and Vick is killing us….. Last but not least Reid he has one of the best backs in the league and under using him…… Oh the O line needs to improve ok my rant is done

No offense to Eagles fans, but this guy was a bad signing from the get-go. When he was in Oakland, he was only able to defend one side of the field. Its true that QBs shied away from challenging him, which led to him having low interception #’s. He’s decent playing the run, but in my mind, to be considered one of the best, you need to generate turnovers and he never really did that. Personally, I would have kept Asante-all he does is make big plays. Sure, he is a gambler, but he is also a game-changer. Same for Revis, Champ Bailey, etc. When I watch Aso, he is always behind the receiver trying to run him down after giving up the completion. I also seeing him whiff on tackles in the open field when the opposing team’s running back makes it into the second level. To me, Boykin looks like he might be something. Hopefully we find another young stud in the draft

Asomugha can still cover, there is no doubt about that. At 31, he has lost a step though and is susceptible to being beaten downfield, which is exactly what has been happening. Besides, it is not like he was beaten downfield Tony Gonzalez, Julio can flat out fly.

if you weren’t planning on implementing a M2M defensive scheme, why would you sign him?? to try and change what his specialty is?? aso is not your guy if you’re running zone! simple. fingers are best pointed at the person in control of the hand

Wow.. so you are actually looking at the whole football team now.. about damn time..
Lets also mention Trent Cole.. nice passion trying to fight Tony Gonzales.. but try.. umm sacking a quarterback.. Their are a lot of guys in that locker room not wearing number seven who have stunk up the joint this season..

Nnamdi was never a burner. That’s why the Raiders liked to play him either at safety (where he played most of the time during his first two seasons) or exclusively at one side on corner.

It is also worth considering that he moved coast-to-coast in the middle of August with literally no prep time from one distinctly unique organization to another. Raiders corners have been known to need adjustment periods when they join other teams. On top of all that, Nnamdi has surely gotta be frustrated because he left the Raiders to join a “better” (ie: win now) organization, right before Al Davis died, the Raiders barely missed out on the playoffs (they woulda got in with Nnamdi) and then Reggie took over. Andy Reid is about to get fired and Nnamdi looks totally duped by the Eagles organization.

I can’t imagine Nnamdi is as bad as Eagles fans and their beat writers want to scapegoat. He is a great person and one of the hardest working NFL players in the business. I have missed Nnamdi from the moment he left and I know all Raiders fans should feel the same. I would gladly take him back.

The Redskins welcome the Eagles cutting him as he would be a tremendous upgrade to our CB core. Especially when the least of them on our team get thrown out of games for acting like insolent children!!!

I luv it how all these ex-non real Raider players got there glory with us with help from the old man. they all just went for the big money not real players..Asomugha, Miller, Gallery, Bush, Rout, etc…and how people say raiders suck but then why you keep taking our product?? where they at now LMFAO from RAIDER NATION thanks for weaving out the fakes …

Nnamdi is a stone cold dog!!! He’s even more soft than that punk ASS-sante, but at least he intercepted the ball once in a while and took it to the house. This guy is in the same class as Izel Jenkins, who all Eagles fans know as TOAST. I would cut this no talent burgler (stealing money) and let Curtish Marsh or Brandon Hughes play, God knows they cant be any worse. Get rid of Babin too while your at it, instead of producing sacks, he just produces drive extending penalties that have killed the Eagles and cost them games for two years now. Cut him and activate Vinnie Curry and let’s see what the 2nd rounder from Marshall can do…

It is probably because he was never really that good to begin with. He was the only decent player a terrible raiders teams, so why not stay away from him. I mean their run defense stunks, their safeties and other corners stunk and he was solid. So a legend formed when in reality there never was one.

Seems to me like the only constant during all the disappointing seasons is Reid. I’m no expert on all things Eagles, but as a Lions fan I’m seeing similarities to our recent past. You guys need to start putting the heat on Lurie to change management. Ford let Millen run the Lions into the ground for nearly 8yrs. When the Ford family couldn’t take the heat anymore, changes happened. Other than winning some more games each year, how has the long reign of Reid been any different? Annual underachiving, except with bigger budget and better players. Sure they made some playoffs & a Super Bowl appearance what, 9yrs ago and beyond? It’s a new decade, and those are distant achievements. Seems like a fresh start is needed, a person who makes better decisions when faced with tough decisions, and holds himself accountable instead of finger pointing to save face.

Fact is, Nnamdi doesn’t have the passion that he should. I say this this as a Raider fan who watched all to often his easy demeanor after loss after loss.

He had some good years in Oakland as an individual player and shut down some of the games top receivers one on one. I was never comfortable with his lack of leafership, though.

It wouldn’t surprise me to see him retired in a year or two. He has a lot of outside interests, and football isn’t at the top anymore to him. Football needs to be at the top to play at the NFL level well.

No disrespect to a fomer long time Raider, but we need guys that want to play football all day like Miles Burris. Those are the kind of players we are looking for now.

Entire defense is just plain soft, it isn’t one guy, it’s teams not being intimidated by them at all, without qb pressure and the threat of to’s the offense can go to town, no intimidation on this team.

As an Eagles fan, I am still confused as to why out of our 3 “starting” corners, why we got rid of Asante Samuel… The guy made Peyton Manning’s life a living hell in New England, and he won a few Super Bowl rings… Then we trade him to the best team in the NFC? Sure, why dont we give the Falcons Lesean McCoy too so they can win the next 3/4 Super Bowls… SMH.